You're Too Slow

Crack!

With a crisp sound, Hisoka's arm instantly fractured, twisting at a bizarre angle that looked painful just to see.

Yet he seemed unable to feel any pain. His face revealed an even more excited and crazed expression than before as he abruptly raised his left leg, trying to slam his knee into his opponent's lower abdomen.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! You truly haven't disappointed me! Come on! Let's cast aside all restraints and fight to our heart's content!"

Unfortunately, that swift, confident strike merely passed through an afterimage and ultimately hit nothing.

Meanwhile, Allen had already retreated to his previous position. Expressionless, he said, "Too slow! Your attacks look like slow motion to me."

"Slow?"

Hisoka was clearly stunned for a moment.

This was the first time he had ever heard someone describe his attacks as "slow." At the same time, he was shocked by that unbelievable reaction speed and velocity.

"Ah, that's right! If an Ordinary Person's neural reflex speed is set at 10, then someone professionally trained and naturally gifted would be between 20 and 25. Add the extra enhancement from Nen abilities, and it might reach 50 to 60. A very small number of the best might exceed 80—like you. But do you know what my neural reflex speed is? At least 400! That's a full fivefold difference." Allen explained in a completely emotionless voice.

You must know that the Agility granted by the Hunter class template and his equipment alone had already reached the terrifying value of 367!

Combined with the results of his own training, his neural reflex speed had long since surpassed—and even utterly crushed—the vast majority of Nen users in this world, including Chairman Netero himself.

This meant that while other people's brains were still processing external information gathered by their senses, Allen had already sent all kinds of commands through his nervous system to his muscles, allowing him to attack, defend, evade, or parry.

Of course, most of that absurd Agility came from equipment bonuses. If he took off his gear, even a Night Elf Hunter with the highest Agility would only have a little over a hundred points, not much stronger than the top Nen users of Hunter World.

Health: 3187

Mana: 3255

Strength: 72

Agility: 367

Stamina: 190

Intellect: 121

Spirit: 115

This was Allen's current Hunter attribute panel.

He wore a full T0 Beast Stalker Set, along with two dim Elf Rings, a Swiftness Pendant, a Black Baron Cloak, two Executioner Hand Axes, and an Ancient Bone Bow as his ranged weapon. One trinket was the Hand of Justice, while the other was a small item made through Engineering Crafting.

It could be said that before entering and challenging higher-difficulty raid Dungeons, he had basically completed his gear setup.

As for why he had chosen the utterly useless T0 set from the game instead of a combination of individual pieces with higher Agility and critical strike chance, Of course it was because the T0 set provided more—and more comprehensive—attribute bonuses.

"Hmph! Do you think you can defeat me just because your reaction speed is fast? How naive!"

Hisoka used his Nen abilities to restore his broken arm, then grinned savagely and pulled out a large handful of playing cards, flinging them wildly like scattered flowers.

Once he had thrown out an entire deck of cards, he used the instant they obscured his opponent's vision to vanish from where he stood.

The next second...

He suddenly appeared from the blind spot above Allen's field of view, swinging his fist down viciously at him.

But just as he was about to succeed, Allen suddenly looked up and grabbed his wrist. A mocking expression appeared on his face. "I told you! You're too slow! Every movement you make looks like a snail's pace to me!"

"Then what about this?"

Hisoka abruptly raised his hand and made a grasping motion.

The scattered playing cards around them suddenly seemed to be controlled by some invisible force, shooting toward Allen from every direction at once and leaving him no room to dodge or retreat.

"It makes no difference! Did you think I wouldn't notice those little tricks just because you used In?"

A mass of blackish-purple Shadow Energy, filled with an evil and decayed aura, instantly burst from Allen's palm. He hurled it out like a Nen bullet, directly clearing away every card imbued with Nen abilities.

Clearly, Hisoka had attached Stretchable Love to the cards earlier and used the advanced technique "In," intending to fool everyone's eyes and set a trap before launching a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, he clearly did not know that Lupos, who had been watching from the side, had already observed everything with "Gyo" and relayed the truth to his master through Soul Link.

Naturally, that led to what happened afterward.

The reason Allen had not reset his Beast Mastery Talent until now was precisely because of the godlike skill Soul Link.

Perhaps in the game, it was merely a Chicken Ribs talent that slowly restored health, and few players would waste precious Talent Points on it.

But in reality, Soul Link allowed telepathic communication and shared memories between a Hunter and their pet. After maxing out its two points, they could even borrow each other's Nen abilities, achieving true "man and beast as one."

In comparison, the Marksmanship and Survival Talents could instead be compensated for through Nen abilities.

"Hmm? Are those ominous black substances your ability too? Transmutation? Emission? Or perhaps... Specialization?"

Seeing that his deceptive tactic had failed, Hisoka temporarily stopped attacking. He stood in place, stroking his chin as he probed.

After only a few exchanges, he had already realized that Allen was not an opponent he could defeat easily. He was a Strong Enemy who required Full Strength—and perhaps even a tremendous price—to overcome.

In particular, even he could not help but feel intense wariness and fear toward those unknown blackish-purple Nen bullets that had destroyed all the cards. He did not dare imagine the Consequences of taking one head-on.

Seeing Hisoka stand there and seriously begin analyzing the situation, Allen finally stopped keeping a straight face. Smiling, he suggested, "Let's call a temporary truce! As a warm-up to better understand each other, I think this is enough, isn't it?"

"Agreed!"

For the rare occasion, Hisoka did not insist. He immediately withdrew the killing intent and frenzied desire for battle radiating from his entire body.

He also needed time to analyze and think, to figure out what his opponent's true abilities were before devising a targeted strategy.

Otherwise, given the current situation, his chances of winning in a direct confrontation were very low.

"Do you need me to treat your arm?" Allen pointed at the left arm that had been forcibly stuck together with Nen abilities.

"Oh? You have healing abilities too?"

Hisoka was visibly taken aback, and a gleam of interest immediately appeared in his eyes.

"You tell me."

Allen smiled meaningfully as he took a roll of Heavy Runecloth Bandage from his pouch and gently wrapped it twice around the break.

At that moment, he finally displayed the uniquely inscrutable temperament of a Transmuter.

Instantly!

Hisoka felt a mysterious energy begin to take effect.

In just a few seconds, the broken bone had fused back together. At the same time, the strained and bruised muscles, along with his nervous system, returned to normal.

Driven by curiosity, he subconsciously removed the bandage and discovered that his arm had already recovered to peak condition. The corners of his mouth curled up as he said with a half-smile, "Oh my! It healed so quickly. Your Nen truly keeps bringing one surprise after another. But are you sure it's No problem to heal the arm of an opponent like me? I won't show mercy in battle."

"Show mercy? I think that's what I should be saying. Enjoy your final moments, because once the next exam begins, you'll learn what hell is..."

As he said this, Allen made no attempt to conceal anything. He directly released all the resentment and malice buried within his heart.

Beating Hisoka's irritating face into a pig's head!

That was the driving force behind his year of frantically improving himself.

P.S. Please add the new book to your collection and vote for it. Thank you very much.